Pearson Koutcher Law

- 414 W Broad St Suite 100, Bethlehem, PA 18018

Attorney

When a work-related injury results in a severed limb, a required surgical amputation or the permanent loss of use of a limb or other body part, you are entitled to special compensation under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation laws. This includes amputation or loss of use of an arm, hand, fingers, leg, foot or toes. Your employer’s Workers’ Compensation insurance covers all medical treatments, including surgeries and prosthetic limbs, as well as lost wage benefits. It also provides “specific loss” benefits, calculated for a certain number of weeks, depending on what part of your body was injured, even if you do not miss any work because of your job injury. The Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation lawyers of Pearson Koutcher Law, have represented many clients in work injury claims for amputation or loss of use of a limb and understand the special considerations needed to compensate you for your permanent workplace injury.

Back injuries are the most common work injury. These injuries include herniated discs, fractured vertebrae, cervical fractures, low back strains, lumbar sprains, and neck sprains (whiplash). However, although they are common, back and neck Workplace injuries are the most difficult to prove for Workers’ Compensation claims. First, while fractures and herniated discs are easily viewed through medical scans such as x-rays and MRIs, pinched nerves, pulled muscles and torn ligaments are much harder to diagnose. Second, employers often refute that a back or neck injury is work-related, because while most work-related back injuries result from heavy-lifting or work that requires repetitive lifting, bending, pushing, pulling and twisting, the symptoms may occur hours or days later, outside the workplace. An experienced Workers’ Compensation attorney, like those of PearsonKoutcher, LLP, will help you overcome the obstacles in filing a successful Workers’ Compensation back injury claim.

Sometimes the most severe and debilitating work-related injuries are the ones you cannot see. Closed head trauma is one such injury. Closed head work-related injuries often are accompanied by headaches, dizziness, memory loss, confusion and difficulty speaking. Workplace head injuries can happen in many different ways. They can result from a fall, such as a fall through a roof or ceiling, from a scaffold or down stairs. You may have sustained your injury after being struck by a falling object or when equipment has failed, i.e. scaffolding or shelving collapse. Brain damage is not always apparent at first. Therefore, it is critical to report any accident involving a head injury to the employer immediately. It is also imperative to have the right doctors – neurologists and other specialists – examine you to diagnose the extent of your head injury.

Burn injuries on any part of the body can result in intense pain, painful or reduced movement, lost range of motion and nerve damage. Workplace burn injuries are properly treated by burn injury specialists, and may require physical therapy, pain management, skin graft surgery and cosmetic surgery. The Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation lawyers of PearsonKoutcher, LLP, diligently work to ensure that you get the specialized care your injuries require.

Disfigurement of the face, head or neck as a consequence of a workplace accident is also compensable under Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation laws. Specific loss benefits are paid for work injuries resulting in visible permanent scarring. Such injuries include, but are not limited to, thermal (fire, hot liquid spills, scalding metal), chemical and electrical burns, explosions, lacerations and surgical scars subsequent to a work-related injury.

If a family member was killed in a workplace accident, you may be entitled to death benefits under your employer’s Workers’ Compensation insurance coverage. Such workplace compensation benefits can even include funeral and burial expenses, and benefits for dependents. In addition to fatal accidents, work-related deaths also include fatalities resulting from complications of injuries, such as infection and organ failure, and occupational diseases, including toxic exposures leading to cancer or lung failure. Since death may not occur immediately after an accident or work injury, it is important to have a skilled work-related accident or workplace fatalities attorney, such as the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation lawyers of PearsonKoutcher, LLP, who will prove the connection between the on-the-job accident or work injury and the subsequent death.

A foot or knee injury affects your safety and performance, and continuing to work after an injury could cause permanent damage. Types of work-related leg and joint injuries include torn ACL or MCL ligaments; chondromalacia (“runner’s knee”); medial meniscus tear (torn cartilage); plantar fasciitis (heel spurs); fractured patella (kneecap); sprained or broken ankles; broken leg, foot or toes; stress fractures; and crush injuries. These injuries can be caused by a workplace accident or by “repetitive stress” to a body part caused by work requirements. Our Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation attorneys are experienced with foot, leg and joint workplace injury cases and will provide the legal representation necessary to recover the work related accident benefits due to you for medical costs and lost wages.

Clearly not all heart attacks and strokes are work-related accidents. However, there are circumstances when unusual exertion and stress related to the job may result in a heart attack or a stroke. Sometimes a work situation requires physical exertion far beyond the everyday activities of a normal workday. In these cases, workers who suffer heart attacks and strokes at work are entitled to Workers’ Compensation benefits. Our skilled Workers’ Compensation lawyers know how to handle the intricacies of work-related injury claims for these types of cases and have assisted numerous workers to recover Workers’ Compensation benefits for workplace heart attacks and strokes.

Workers’ Compensation benefits are also appropriate for work-related accidents that led to the loss of an eye or eyesight. Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation laws, in addition to your regular wages or disability pay, vision loss claims provide for specific loss benefits based on your weekly wages. Specifically, for a “loss of vision” claim, you must lose an eye, experience blindness, or be “legally blind” (that is, lose your eyesight for all practical purposes). The cause of the work-related injury that led to your vision loss, whether it is a chemical burn, flying objects, etc., does not affect the benefits. The PearsonKoutcher Workers’ Compensation lawyers will assist you in recovering all the work injury benefits due you under Pennsylvania law.

The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation laws provide for mental illness claims; however, these claims are not always easy to prove . It is imperative that you have an experienced attorney at your side that is knowledgeable about the numerous psychological conditions that can result from or be aggravated by workplace conditions. For example, high levels of stress at the workplace or pressure from a supervisor may result in anxiety or depression. Similarly, a traumatic incident on the job may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder. While your ailment may be real and debilitating, mental illness claims are simply not as successful as physical injury claims because, with all the stresses of everyday life, the connection between mental illness and employment is difficult to demonstrate.

Occupational diseases are illnesses stemming from exposure to toxic materials and other health hazards at work. Many Workers’ Compensation claims for occupational disease involve lung disease or heart disease caused by workplace exposure to such things as coal dust, methane or carbon monoxide, arsenic or lead, toxic chemicals or solvents, and smoke or heat. Some illnesses are specifically enumerated as work-related with the employer having the burden to rebut the hurt at work claim, i.e. “black lung disease” from coal mining. For other occupational diseases, your lawyer must prove that your illness was caused by your employment.

Workers’ Compensation is a program requiring employers to purchase insurance coverage to provide workplace compensation benefits to employees who become ill or injured on the job. Through this program, workers are provided such benefits as lost wages and medical care. In exchange, employers are protected from personal injury lawsuits by injured employees. While the federal government administers a Workers’ Compensation program for federal and certain other types of employees, each state has its own laws and programs for Workers’ Compensation, such as the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act .

Injuries that develop over time can be as painful and debilitating as injuries from specific workplace accidents. Such work-related injuries include carpal tunnel syndrome, hand-arm vibration syndrome, torn rotator cuff, “tennis elbow”, “runner’s knee”, lumbar strain, and herniated discs. These injuries can be caused by repeated motions, using vibrating equipment, and continuous bending, twisting lifting or reaching.

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